A place where the elders, ministers, and ministry leaders of the Southeastern Church of Christ can share how God is working in their lives as they strive to serve the church that He has placed in their care.

Monday, December 23, 2013

With a
new year comes another opportunity to evaluate our life, and ask ourselves
"how am I doing?" As a
disciple of Jesus, I already know that my goal is to become more and more like
Jesus, but you know that is a very high goal. I look at this clay jar that God has given me
to put my abilities in, and begin to think like the one talent man and tremble
in fear. Fear, so many times and in this
case is born of ignorance. The one
talent man feared his master because first he believed lies about him and
second he did not know him. God is not
out to get us, but the devil keeps putting out the lie that he is not to be
trusted. We trust God because we know
him. He has shown us his character
through the life and redemptive sacrifice of his son Jesus. Phillip said to Jesus: "Show us the
Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to Phillip: "You still don't
know me, Phillip, even after I have been among you such a long time?" (About three years) Anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus
does so because through Jesus we know who God is. When we see God through the life of his Son,
well, we fall in love with God because he first loved us and paid the ultimate
price in the pursuit of our love.

So, I
see my walk as a disciple and I ask myself why is it God never stops loving me?
Jeremiah 31:3 says "I have loved
you with an everlasting love," and it teaches me that Gods love is more than
unconditional, it is supernatural. God's
love is not made out of the stuff I am made of. God's love is of the Sprit and therefore
without end.

I said
all that to say that this stuff we are made of is frail, and we stumble all the
time. Paul wrote in Romans that our
present suffering is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in
us. And for that hope we eagerly await,
but hope that is seen is no hope at all. For who hopes for what he already has? Then hope cannot exist outside of faith.

So, a
new year and new opportunities to step out in faith in areas perhaps we were
too weak to go previously. With God all
things are possible even when he chooses to work through the stuff he has made
us out of. We are the creatures God made
with his own hands, so there must be great value in that. We were made to spread the borders of his
Kingdom. It's what the Lord Almighty
wants us to be about. God's Word teaches
me that I can be Happy in any circumstance, and this year I want to smile more,
sing more, and outwardly show my joy in Christ so that it (not me) will be a
light to those outside of Christ. I want
to partner with my brothers to find ways to grow our Church that meets on
Southeastern Ave. I want to learn how to
love like God loves, not unconditionally, but supernaturally.The supernatural love that comes from God can
overcome any physical obstacle that Satan puts in our path.

Love is
patient, love is kind. It does not envy,
it does not boast, it is not proud. It
is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no
record of wrongs. Love does not delight
in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. And now these three remain; faith, hope and
love. But the greatest of these is love.

My
prayer for this new year is that I and the Lord’s Church will come together
through prayer to seek how to love God and one another supernaturally and
everlastingly.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

My office has stunk lately!In fact, for a few days right around Thanksgiving you could smell it
through my closed door out into the hall.I mean it’s been bad.For a few
days I moved down the hall and worked in Dale’s old office. And no, the stench wasn’t my fault (I promise).It hasn’t even been any of the teen boys’
faults.It was the smell of decay.Somewhere we had a dead critter.It could have been a mouse, rat, squirrel, or
llama for all I know.I looked high and
low for a carcass.Roger and Teresa
looked even better than I did.They
moved furniture and looked in every nook and cranny.I even used my phone to take a video of the
duct work to see if our little dead intruder had been trapped in the
ventilation system.We found
nothing.Our efforts were all for
not.We used air freshener, opened the
windows before it got bitterly cold, lit candles, and all sorts of things to
mask the smell.But, at the end of the
day, without finding the actual source of the smell, we just have to wait for
the odor to gradually fade.For the most
part it has.By the end of Christmas
break, the office should be back to smelling like roses, or whatever it
normally smells like.

But, thinking about the stench in my office in conjunction
to what Greg has been preaching lately from 2 Corinthians got me thinking about
something.What’s my smell? In Greg’s sermons, he has spoken about being
an aroma of God.That despite us being
broken vessels, when are filled with the life and grace of Jesus Christ we can
become something that is pleasing to those around us.When we are willing to allow Jesus to be our
Lord and permeate our lives, we become something that draws others to know more
about the infinite love that He has to offer.

In contrast, before we have the life from Christ, we are
filled with the death that is brought about by sin.And, just like my office, it really begins to
stink as decay sets in.And, even more
frustrating, the deeper we tuck the death of sin away and think that we are
hiding it well, the worse the stink becomes.What really drives me crazy about the smell in my office is not that
something died.That’s part of
life.But, that it died some place where
we can’t find it.Somewhere in one of my
walls, or in the ceiling, or too far in the duct work for us to see is a
decaying carcass.If it had died behind
my bookshelf, I could have gotten rid of the stench right away.Don’t be fooled and think that you can cleverly
hide sin.It will eventually start to
stink.Death brings decay and with it a
smell that is repulsive to those around you and eventually rot your soul.

Let’s be a people who not only allow the light of Christ
into our lives to eradicate the decay of death, but let’s also be a people who
are honest with ourselves and one another about the sin in our life.Rather than putting it somewhere deep so “no
one ever finds out”, let’s take away the power of secrecy and be honest about
the sin to keep it from stinking up the whole room.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” – Solomon.

We are surrounded by negativity.It is in our politics, our schools and in our churches.It is rampant in business, in the movies and television. Yet out of this darkness and negativity it has never been easier to shine forth the love of Christ like “a city set on a hill” so that others will glorify our Father in heaven.

However, it all begins with gratitude or what the Pilgrims’ called “Thanksgiving.”This was not a holiday devoted to non-stop, all day long football games.It was about praising God and giving Him thanks.Before the Second World War churches met on Thanksgiving Day to give God thanks and they usually did not stop with a single service.The country was poor, the great Depression was ongoing, antibiotics had not been invented, many did not even enjoy indoor plumbing and yet thanksgiving was offered to God.

Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will of you in Christ Jesus.”Thanksgiving is a command and something we do in all circumstances.This does not mean I am necessarily thankful for the circumstances … some things that happen to me are bad.However, every thing that happens (good or bad) can be used to accomplish God’s will.It was not a good circumstance when Paul’s liberty was taken away in Rome but he used that opportunity to preach the gospel to those in Caesar’s own household.

An attitude of gratitude helps me see things as God sees them.How much is there each of our lives for God to criticize?Yet God sent his son to die on our behalf when there was nothing good about us, indeed we were God’s enemies and helpless.Paul writes, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”(Romans 5:6).

On Thursday, December 5th, the Sound of Music was presented on live Television.Three hours of outstanding music and entertainment.Were you grateful for a respite from the violence, death and profanity usually found in that medium?Or did you become a professional critic of every aspect of the performance?Did you appreciate the courage it took the network and the stars to appear in such a production without the safety net of re-takes?Or did you think, as I did, Julie Andrews did it so much better!Would we like the standard applied to us that we applied to this production?

Teddy Roosevelt once wrote, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Gratitude makes me thankful for what I have.It gives me balance and helps me be far less critical of others.A few weeks ago I was told about one of our administration assistants in California whose cancer has come back.She is in her 40s.On Thanksgiving morning I sent her a brief card to let her know I was thinking about her and praying for her.I debated not writing the card, she hardly knows me and I’d have to go ten minutes out of my way to get it mailed and I had family and turkey to get to.But I sent the card.Her reaction dumbfounded me.She both wrote and called and told me what a difference my note had made, indeed that I had made her whole week.I found myself humbled and embarrassed.I remembered the proverb, “I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes—until I met a man who had no feet.”

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your thoughts dwell on these things.” (Phil. 4:9).

Thursday, December 5, 2013

[I used the above title, for that’s what Kent and Amber
use in their Blog.]

It’s with personal pleasure and gratitude
that one of our own from Southeastern [and my nephew], Kent Brantly and his
family, are now actively serving in Medical Missions in Liberia, West Africa, at
Elwa Hospital – about 12 miles from the capitol city of Monrovia.Kent and Amber and the kids, Ruby and
Stephen, moved there on October 15, 2013, with an initial two year
commitment.[By the way, their family of
four moved to a foreign country to live and checked 14 bags!! – containing all the things they might need.
I don’t know about you, but when my wife and I go to Colorado we check two 50# bags in addition
to our 2 ‘carry-ons’.How about
you?.We have so much unnecessary
“stuff”].

Most of their day-to-day financial
needs have been met. The sponsoring
organization for the hospital, Samaritan’s Purse, has accounted for much of
this. And I’m delighted to tell you that Southeastern has been able to add the
Brantlys to our Foreign Mission’s regular monthly support.However, they are still shortabout
$10,000 on what we call “start up funds”.This money is used for everything from
airfare, to local house and personal needs, to a vehicle, etc. – all the things
it takes to get started. To this point they are without a vehicle.To find a decent used vehicle in Africa is verrry difficult – unless you can obtain one
from another missionary or ex-patriot who has taken proper care of the
vehicle.The first two vehicles that
were possible purchases turned out to have been ‘totaled’ and rebuilt.Caution; always caution – especially in
developing countries.I always called
it, “appropriate skepticism.”

A vehicle for a family in a Third World country is really a must!They do without so much that having a vehicle
becomes even more important for the family – going to market, going to various
churches, personal travel, helping others who don’t have a vehicle, and just
the ability to come and go with some independence.Just ask yourself how you would like to go
even one week without a vehicle- MY
CASE RESTS!

The Mission Committee suggested and
Southeastern’s leadership has approved our trying to raise as much as possible
of the $10,000 for the Brantlys. And now the rest is up to you.During this season of charity and giving
please sincerely consider helping as much as you can for our SPECIALCONTRIBUTION next Sunday [Dec. 15, 2013].

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Now that I’ve presented the monetary need,
let me ask you a question.What’s the
most important thing to most people – and perhaps to you?Come on now; be honest.The bottom-line usual answer is a person’s
HEALTH – and the health of their loved ones.This is just a truism of people, and it was no different in Jesus’
day.Jesus knew this about people.He had compassion on their physical plight.This is why most of the miracles recorded in
the New Testament are miracles involving HEALING. I like to say that, “Jesus Christ was God’s only Son and the
first MedicalMissionary.”It is also true that, “Peoples’ greatest
concern is their physical health, while their greatest need is their spiritual
health.”Jesus ministered to both these
areas to all people. Kent
has prepared himself for many years both medically and spiritually.He is ready and eager and covets the
challenge to follow the example of Jesus in ministering to people both
physically and spiritually.

[As an aside here, you may be asking, “Why
Africa or why Liberia?”Can I say more than giving a figure I saw
recently:Liberiaaverages only one doctor per 100,000 people!!
In Indiana
there is probably about one doctor per 400 people or 25 per 100,000.The answer to “Why Africa” is à the tremendous
medical need!!!Of course the
spiritual need is everywhere].

As
you can see, I’m getting carried away here.But I worked for five years at ChimalaMissionHospital
in Tanzania
and have since served many other times in medical missions. This is where my
heart is and that of my wife, Lou Ann.This is also true of Kent and Amber.Their goal has been reached: they are on the scene in Liberia – and
now through diligent medical care and through their Christian example and
teaching, they will be able to help countless people both medically and
spiritually. I think we at Southeastern should be proud and should be eager to do
all that we can to help “one of our
own”.